One sketch in the CBBC series concerns communications in ancient Rome. The Romans send messages by writing them on a tablet and sending them along the Roman roads by a network called Tabellari Messenger. That is, a slave takes the verbal message – complete with the requisite smilies – to its recipient. An adult needs to watch this twice to get all the references to BlackBerry Messenger. Of course, some might point to this system's alleged use in this summer's British riots. Perhaps that was all the fault of Horrible Histories.

Long may his Barmy British Empire continue to expand. Horrible Histories is hugely original and intelligent. It encourages not just an interest, but a critical interest, in history. The books use gore and black comedy to engage young readers in a vast range of subjects from the Aztecs to the Industrial Revolution. Scepticism about sources and received accounts – the debunking of myth – are at the heart of Deary's humour. It might seem that narrative is the way to popularise history and that is how "adult" popular history by the likes of David Starkey does it (). But Deary has discovered that a more rational and analytical approach actually goes better with the sophisticated irony of the young.

The TV series, which is brilliantly funny, actually deepens some of the historical content of the books. One sketch is all about medieval peasants claiming higher wages after their numbers were thinned by the Black Death. I learned that at university. Now it's a joke the kids are circulating on Blackberry Messenger. When it's working.